Technology

IT degree for Arts students under NAAP

By Gamini WARUSHAMANA

[email protected]
 

The "New Age Academy Program" (NAAP) designed by the IT-BPO industry will be launched on September 2, Executive Committee Members of the Software Exporters Association (SEA) and CEO, Redgecrest Sanath Fernando told the Sunday Observer .

The NAAP program will be initiated with 200 students and will increase its intake up to 5,000 students per year.

Under the program the students will get opportunities to follow IT degrees while being part-time employees of the IT-BPO companies in the country.

Fernando said that the NAAP organising committee will work with all IT-BPO companies in the country in the NAAP program as partners of the program.

The NAAP will be set up as a separate independent institution. A NAAP co-ordinator has already been appointed to carry out the initial work of setting up the NAAP.

The NAAP plan was envisaged during the National IT-BPO Workforce Strategy conference in August 2007. Fernando said, "in the discussions about the HR capacity limitations in the IT-BPO industry, the other stakeholders inquired about the solution of the industry.

After we studied the case we found that there should be a joint effort by all stakeholders to make IT graduates match the fast changing industry demand as well as increase the numbers.

We have selected NAAP universities/education institutions, NAAP partner companies and financial institutions.

This program will open the doors for students to follow paid degree courses in State, semi government or private education institutions.

Fernando said that NAAP graduates would meet the exact demand of the IT-BPO industry. We have programs to ensure the standards of the program.

The NAAP partner companies will have to be ethical and give sufficient time for the students to participate in lectures and examinations in the universities.

Normally universities do not aim to make graduates to meet the exact industry needs.

We do not expect that from universities. We have programs to develop the graduates and the NAAP will conduct seminars and workshops for the students related to industry needs.

The program will enable students who follow A/L classes in any subject stream, even arts, to be IT graduates.

Another objective of the NAAP program is to make IT a popular subject.

The program will promote IT among students who sat for the GCE O/L examination by providing information about suitable IT courses for them.

The NAAP will provide all information about institutions and IT courses and will not promote any institution.

NAAP has selected all leading universities and IT education institutions for the program. The University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) and IIT have already confirmed their support.

The following IT-BPO companies will participate in the NAAP program.

Ridgecrest Asia (Pvt) Ltd, Virtusa, Eurocenter DCC, Mind Spring (Pvt) Ltd, hSenid Software International (Pvt) Ltd, ZILLIONe Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, Raffles Solutions, JKCS and Informatics.

The NAAP organisers hope that all IT-BPO companies in Sri Lanka will become members of this national initiative and invites them to be active partners of the NAAP program.

The program is implemented by the Software Exporters' Association (SEA).

ASUS unveils innovative Express Gate

ASUS unveiled the latest feature, Express Gate on a range of Models. Sankha Jayaratne, Group Product Manager, Epsi Computers, authorised dealers for ASUS in Sri Lanka said that Notebooks have become indispensable both at work and at home as Internet related activities take an increasingly important role in our daily life.

This additional built-in operating system which would be based on specific system configurations enables ultra fast boot up for access to a host of most commonly used features on a range of notebooks based on Intel's latest platform.

With this truly convenient, instant access to the Internet, users can now send a last-minute email before rushing off to work, browse the Web in between appointments and reach friends and family via instant messenger all in the blink of an eye.

In addition, Express Gate has also effectively created two computers in one that it is now easier to share the computer.

When under the Express Gate environment, Internet, music and photos can be shared without disturbing the files and set up in the Windows operating system reserved for personal use.

Jayaratne said that ASUS saw the year 2007 filled with accolades from across the globe with 2568 awards.

It was also ranked in Business Week's "InfoTech 100" for the tenth straight year; and named the "Number One in Quality and Services" by the Wall Street Journal Asia.

WS02, latest addition to Eureka's portfolio

Global technology firm, WSO2 became the latest addition to Eureka's portfolio to obtain state-of-the-art information security and IT infrastructure management services, in a bid to remain competitive in a fast-developing industry.

With the overall number of attacks on the web continuously on the rise, and customers becoming increasingly demanding of proof of security and 24x7 availability from their service providers, WSO2 needed a partner that enabled them to meet the stringent security requirements and tight deadlines of a global clientele.

Eureka, with its combination of an evolved information security practice and a comprehensive open-source technology skill set, proved the ideal partner to enable WSO2 to achieve this target," said Chairman and CEO, WSO2, Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana.

He said that they were extremely happy with the services provided by Eureka, who clearly understood the importance of their requirement and handled it with the highest professionalism and competence.

As part of the process, Eureka conducted a complete security audit for WSO2, including penetration testing and vulnerability assessments, and compiled a comprehensive report of their security status providing the basis for a comprehensive security policy and infrastructure within the organisation.

In addition, Eureka took over the management of the WSO2 IT infrastructure. This involved standardising their entire architecture and putting into place an infrastructure management procedure, including automatic patch implementations, hot fixes and security updates, ensuring that the WSO2 infrastructure is performing at optimal levels at all times.

A global corporation with offices in the US, UK and Sri Lanka, WSO2 is an innovative Open Source technology company, delivering Web services middleware and offering a range of leading products and complementary services to their clientSle.

ZILLIONe launches Sage Accpac- Version 5.5

ZILLIONe Systems Solutions achieved another milestone in their eventful journey. Sage Accpac Version 5.5, the latest version of the world renowned enterprise suite was introduced to the local market at the Trans Asia.

The launch hosted by ZILLIONe Systems Solutions was themed "We maximise opportunities - We make companies succeed" and was attended by a large number of professionals in the business sectors.

Business Partner Account Manager, Sage Software Asia Adrian Ang, in his keynote address introduced the Sage Accpac Version 5.5 while Ms. Disa Wong, Senior Consultant Sage Software Asia elaborated on the functional and technical advantages of the Sage Accpac ERP solution.

Ms. Wong said, "The new Sage Accpac 5.5 extended enterprise suite offers clients the freedom of choice, ease of integration, high performance and reliability that forward thinking companies rely on to increase profitability and seize the competitive advantage.

This powerful and integrated solution delivers the tools your company needs to enhance individual and team performance with Integrated Sage CRM. The sales, marketing and customer service staff are able to retrieve the information they need to work efficiently and serve customers well."

The latest Sage Accpac 5.5 solution with integrated Dashboards enables to keep a track of the company's financial and operational history without having to go through detailed reports.